Tuesday, July 06, 2004

Will Harvey Bolt the Mouse House?

That other short fingered vulgarian Harvey Weinstein of Miramax, according to those wonderful Page Sixers, "is likely to bolt from the highly successful movie studio he founded as early as this week."

Damn.

Although Bertolluci decribed Harv as "the Sadaam Hussein of cinema," The Corsair prefers to think of him as more Baby Doc-like, with the Begian Chateaux exit strategy as an exercisable option, u nah mean?

Mirablile Dictu, Those fabulous Sixers:

"Under the plan being considered, Weinstein would leave to start his own movie company and Miramax would distribute his films, sources say. Harvey's brother and Miramax co-founder Bob Weinstein is expected to stay at the company, where he runs Dimension Films, a Miramax division that focuses on medium-budget action and horror films. Another possible outcome is for the Weinsteins to buy the entire Miramax studio back, although Eisner has been telling associates he doubts the brothers would be able to raise the money.

"As PAGE SIX previously reported, one scenario being discussed is for Weinstein and Pixar Animation Studios chief Steve Jobs to team up and make a run for MGM, the studio that is on the block for about $5 billion.

"Weinstein is also close to investment banker Steve Rattner, and many in the media industry have speculated that he may take a role in backing Weinstein."

Here's a little something I wrote in January:

For years I have dogged Michael Eisner's Simian ass. He has been ridiculous in his dealings with Pixar, which is the centerpiece, nay, the pearl of Disney's animation operation. In point of fact, it is on the backs on profits eked from it's parasitic deal with Pixar that Eisner -- who holds onto the reins of power at Disney ("my preciousss") with the tenacity of an African dictator -- still has a fucking job.

Eisner was playing the prototypical overmanly Hollywood Power Player game -- talk tough, concede nothing, bully, hector and, when all else fails, threaten lawsuit -- on Steve Jobs. You know, in Power Player fashion he was just fucking with Job's' head.

Why?

Dont ask me; The Corsair is rather naive waif on these matters, prefering Augustine's red-bronze caritas to Nietzsche's dark sepia-colored struggle-of-the-fittest devisings. But now Eisner, the rat who may sink Disney, has handed over to his competition a sorely needed asset. And what would happen (takes out The Corsair's infamous crystal ball, spinkles some Haitian herbs, and says some juju) if Steve Jobs hammers out a deal with, oh, say --- Jeffrey Katzenberg's SKG? Huh? What then, fucker?

I'll tell you what: Eisner's ego will have given his arch nemesis -- "the midget" -- the tool needed to break Disney's animation back. Pixar's every victory over Disney will be fussed over by the Hollywood press and agonized over by shareholders who lost out becuase Eisner was looking out for his ego.

I could easily see Steve Jobs being that vengeful a motherfucker and SKG offering a very sweet deal indeed to indulge him. A sweet deal for Jobs but a bitter one for Eisner and a Cruella de Ville of a nightmare for Eisner's shareholders.

Indeed.




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